The Time of Data: Time-Scales of Data Use in the Life Sciences

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University of Chicago Press

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2999-01-01

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Currently under an indefinite embargo pending publication by University of Chicago Press. 12-month embargo required on publication

Abstract

This paper considers the temporal dimension of data processing and use, and the
ways in which it affects the production and interpretation of knowledge claims. I start
by distinguishing the time at which data collection, dissemination and analysis occur
(Data time, or Dt) from the time in which the phenomena for which data serve as
evidence operate (Phenomena time, or Pt). Building on the analysis of two examples
of data re-use from modelling and experimental practices in biology, I then argue that
Dt affects how researchers (1) select and interpret data as evidence and (2) identify
and understand phenomena.

Funders/Sponsor

This research was funded by the European Research Council under the European
Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) / ERC grant agreement n°
335925 (project “The Epistemology of Data-Intensive Science”); and the ARC
Discovery Grant “Organisms and Us” (DP160102989).